Archived Stories
DAVIDS ORGAN CELEBRATION - Daughters of utah pioneers
An amusing story is told of the organ James Davids gave his wife, Ruth Piede Call Davids, as a Christmas present. He knew she wanted one, and while visiting the hotel in nearby Bancroft, he asked the owner what he would take for the organ there. He agreed to trade it for a team of horses and a wagon. The week before Christmas, James sent his sons into town to pick it up and since it was winter, they took a sleigh. While in town, they visited the bar and got a bit intoxicated. They continued to drink as they returned home, playing the organ and singing. As ranchers heard them, they hitched their horses to sleighs and followed. Ruth welcomed them all and made doughnuts and pies. The gathering celebrating her new organ reportedly lasted three days.
Entertainment for the party may have included James "rattling the bones." While journeying west as a young man, often in the evenings they would have entertainment around the campfire. He enjoyed listening to other travelers "rattle the bones" to music. This consisted of taking two carved pieces of wood shaped like rib bones, called rhythm bones, holding them between the fingers while gently making a fist, then rattling them together to create a rhythm or beat. He was given a set when he left the group and carried them with him throughout his life. Years later a grandson found them in a dresser drawer and became very skilled at playing them.
Entertainment for the party may have included James "rattling the bones." While journeying west as a young man, often in the evenings they would have entertainment around the campfire. He enjoyed listening to other travelers "rattle the bones" to music. This consisted of taking two carved pieces of wood shaped like rib bones, called rhythm bones, holding them between the fingers while gently making a fist, then rattling them together to create a rhythm or beat. He was given a set when he left the group and carried them with him throughout his life. Years later a grandson found them in a dresser drawer and became very skilled at playing them.
osmond call, "chester call," dup history collection
At the urging of his wife, Mary Angelina Packer Call, Chester Call entered into the practice of polygamy by marrying Sarah Marie Dickson on December 9, 1872. Mary had encouraged Chester to take her cousin Sarah as a wife and suggested the same thing to Sarah. They both agreed and were married. Sarah and Mary had been close friends throughout their lives. From that time forward, Mary and Sarah relied on each other during the times that Chester was called on missions and conducting business away from home. Mary had nine children and Sarah had eight. Mary possessed the gift of healing, and neither she nor Sarah lost a young child.
Mary’s journal tells about a time when Chester came in while she was cooking breakfast. He was supposed to be at Sarah’s, and she asked him why he was not there. He said he and Sarah had argued and she refused to cook him a meal. Mary told him to go apologize because she was not feeding him either!
Mary’s journal tells about a time when Chester came in while she was cooking breakfast. He was supposed to be at Sarah’s, and she asked him why he was not there. He said he and Sarah had argued and she refused to cook him a meal. Mary told him to go apologize because she was not feeding him either!
Willard reed and flavilla "birdie" adams smith - a story of faith, courage, fortitude, heartbreak, and victory.
WILLARD REED SMITH was born 1 Nov. 1861, in Centerville, Utah the Son of William Reed Smith and Mary Elizabeth Ricks. He married Flavilla Leavitt Adams on 12 December 1885, in the Logan Temple. FLAVILLA LEAVITT ADAMS was born 22 Feb. 1863, Centerville, Utah, the daughter of John Adams and Flavilla Leavitt.
Willard’s schooling, as common of that day, was in the local school district in Centerville, which would be as about grade eight of our present school course. As a boy and young man, he labored with his father, his brothers, Joseph the son of Aunt Emeline and three years his senior, and Hyrum the son of Aunt Millie who was one year older than Willard. In addition to what the boys could do to help on the farm, his father had several hired men, whose habits in life were of lasting influence upon the lives of the boys. This, however, was well guarded by the father. He took much pride in the team he drove and the tools that he used.1
Flavilla’s father, John Adams became the original pioneer merchant of the Centerville Co-op (ZCMI) Store. He was the superintendent of the co-op store for thirty-five years, until his death in 1901. He was imprisoned for unlawful co-habitation (polygamy) in the Territorial Penitentiary from February 21, 1886 to October 24, 1886.2
After his marriage, Willard, with his young bride moved to Chesterfield, Idaho, where he had previously taken up a homestead and built a two-room log house.3 The homestead was located near the Crandall Ranch main gate, South of Kimball Lane, and West of Hansen Road. Their log house has long since vanished to the ravages of time, plowed over in the fields, where there is not even so much as a trace of a rock foundation at all. Their 160-acre homestead consisted of four, forty acre plots in a row, from east to west.4
On September 26, 2022, Craig Crandall found this horse shoe in the dusty soil as he was stacking hay that was produced on the original Smith homestead.
Many of the original settlers of Chesterfield, Idaho came from Bountiful, Utah. Some families from Bountiful spilled over into Centerville, which is half way between Bountiful and Farmington, Utah.
Willard’s father was called as president of the Davis Stake of Zion on June 17, 1877, with Anson Call as one of his counselors.5 Anson Call’s son Chester Call founded Chesterfield, Idaho in 1880. This may be why the young Smith’s chose to settle in Chesterfield.
Willard and Flavilla had a daughter, Marietta “Etta” Smith born in the home of Willard’s mother, Mary E. Smith in Centerville, Utah, on 2 December 1886.6 Willard served as a counselor to Bishop Parley P. Willey in the Chesterfield Ward.7 Bishop Willey had also settled in Bountiful, before coming to Chesterfield.8 Undoubtedly, Parley Willey and Willard Smith knew one another from being neighbors in Davis County. Their homesteads in Chesterfield were not far apart. Parley Willey and Keplar Sessions served colonization missions together in Arizona before both helped settle Chesterfield, Idaho.
Willard’s mother’s older brother, Thomas Ricks lived in Davis County, Utah and helped to settle Rexburg, Idaho and served as the first president of Bannock Stake Academy, later known as Ricks College, now known as BYU-Idaho.
When Willard was 26, he suddenly died on August 30, 1887 in Chesterfield, Idaho, with what was known as stricture of the bowel. His wife took his body back to Centerville for the funeral and burial in the Centerville Cemetery.
Birdie and her baby lived with her father, John Adams, in Centerville. Birdie clerked in the Centerville Co-op Store while Etta was a baby. Soon after Willard’s passing, she realized that she needed to prove up on the homestead (or lose it) and so she returned to Chesterfield, proved up on her land, received the patent on August 13, 18889, and sold it. She then returned to Centerville and lived with her mother and father.
They lived with her parents in Centerville until Etta was five years old, and Flavilla married Ezra V. Ricks (her mother-in-law’s half-brother) on March 18, 1891, and went to Cache Valley to make their home. They settled in Benson. Ezra’s first wife Lois Julia Clark had died five days after their first son was born, whom also died the day he was born. Lois and Flavilla were the same age and may have grown up near each other. Together, Ezra and Flavilla had six children. In 1933 Ezra Ricks died and Flavilla, moved to Collinston, Utah to make her home with her daughter Etta who was married by then. Birdie passed away in Logan, Utah on 10 June 1938 and was buried next to her sweetheart in the Centerville Cemetery.
Willard’s schooling, as common of that day, was in the local school district in Centerville, which would be as about grade eight of our present school course. As a boy and young man, he labored with his father, his brothers, Joseph the son of Aunt Emeline and three years his senior, and Hyrum the son of Aunt Millie who was one year older than Willard. In addition to what the boys could do to help on the farm, his father had several hired men, whose habits in life were of lasting influence upon the lives of the boys. This, however, was well guarded by the father. He took much pride in the team he drove and the tools that he used.1
Flavilla’s father, John Adams became the original pioneer merchant of the Centerville Co-op (ZCMI) Store. He was the superintendent of the co-op store for thirty-five years, until his death in 1901. He was imprisoned for unlawful co-habitation (polygamy) in the Territorial Penitentiary from February 21, 1886 to October 24, 1886.2
After his marriage, Willard, with his young bride moved to Chesterfield, Idaho, where he had previously taken up a homestead and built a two-room log house.3 The homestead was located near the Crandall Ranch main gate, South of Kimball Lane, and West of Hansen Road. Their log house has long since vanished to the ravages of time, plowed over in the fields, where there is not even so much as a trace of a rock foundation at all. Their 160-acre homestead consisted of four, forty acre plots in a row, from east to west.4
On September 26, 2022, Craig Crandall found this horse shoe in the dusty soil as he was stacking hay that was produced on the original Smith homestead.
Many of the original settlers of Chesterfield, Idaho came from Bountiful, Utah. Some families from Bountiful spilled over into Centerville, which is half way between Bountiful and Farmington, Utah.
Willard’s father was called as president of the Davis Stake of Zion on June 17, 1877, with Anson Call as one of his counselors.5 Anson Call’s son Chester Call founded Chesterfield, Idaho in 1880. This may be why the young Smith’s chose to settle in Chesterfield.
Willard and Flavilla had a daughter, Marietta “Etta” Smith born in the home of Willard’s mother, Mary E. Smith in Centerville, Utah, on 2 December 1886.6 Willard served as a counselor to Bishop Parley P. Willey in the Chesterfield Ward.7 Bishop Willey had also settled in Bountiful, before coming to Chesterfield.8 Undoubtedly, Parley Willey and Willard Smith knew one another from being neighbors in Davis County. Their homesteads in Chesterfield were not far apart. Parley Willey and Keplar Sessions served colonization missions together in Arizona before both helped settle Chesterfield, Idaho.
Willard’s mother’s older brother, Thomas Ricks lived in Davis County, Utah and helped to settle Rexburg, Idaho and served as the first president of Bannock Stake Academy, later known as Ricks College, now known as BYU-Idaho.
When Willard was 26, he suddenly died on August 30, 1887 in Chesterfield, Idaho, with what was known as stricture of the bowel. His wife took his body back to Centerville for the funeral and burial in the Centerville Cemetery.
Birdie and her baby lived with her father, John Adams, in Centerville. Birdie clerked in the Centerville Co-op Store while Etta was a baby. Soon after Willard’s passing, she realized that she needed to prove up on the homestead (or lose it) and so she returned to Chesterfield, proved up on her land, received the patent on August 13, 18889, and sold it. She then returned to Centerville and lived with her mother and father.
They lived with her parents in Centerville until Etta was five years old, and Flavilla married Ezra V. Ricks (her mother-in-law’s half-brother) on March 18, 1891, and went to Cache Valley to make their home. They settled in Benson. Ezra’s first wife Lois Julia Clark had died five days after their first son was born, whom also died the day he was born. Lois and Flavilla were the same age and may have grown up near each other. Together, Ezra and Flavilla had six children. In 1933 Ezra Ricks died and Flavilla, moved to Collinston, Utah to make her home with her daughter Etta who was married by then. Birdie passed away in Logan, Utah on 10 June 1938 and was buried next to her sweetheart in the Centerville Cemetery.
"Most of his pay would be in vegetables"
From the beginning, Chesterfield had both sheep and cattle. Those involved in these industries naturally spent a good deal of time herding, moving the flocks and herds onto new ranges with adequate forage as the seasons changed, keeping a constant vigil over the seasonal lambing and calving, branding calves, and watching over the steady growth of the new stock during the summer months.
Other work in the little settlement included clerking in stores, delivery, making bricks, and early in the present century, working in the creamery. . . . An interesting appeal for a shoemaker was published in the Deseret News in 1886:
"What we are most in need of is a good shoe-and-boot-maker-and-repairer. It would also be necessary for him to understand blacksmithing, tailoring, bricklaying, surgery, medicine and carpet weaving. With these qualifications he would be useful and busy at all seasons of the year. He must have a good, sound constitution, and great patience and power of endurance, and if he should be a vegetarian all the better, as most of his pay would be in vegetables."
It takes little imagination to realize that a shoemaker was indeed a person needed in most settlements. Clothing could be made at home, but shoes were another matter. The list of additional skills desired from the new recruit might seem ludicrous, but it is apparent that these were precisely just the skills that could be put to good use in a place far from cities . . . jacks-of-all-trades were more common then than now.
The village blacksmith-dentist was Lamoni Tolman. James Yancey remembered how one of his front teeth was broken in a fall. His father sent him to Uncle Lamoni to have the tooth pulled. Lamoni, mowing hay at the time, examined the tooth and sent James to the house for the forceps. Then he had James sit up on the mower seat, and "out came the tooth regardless of the pain."
Other work in the little settlement included clerking in stores, delivery, making bricks, and early in the present century, working in the creamery. . . . An interesting appeal for a shoemaker was published in the Deseret News in 1886:
"What we are most in need of is a good shoe-and-boot-maker-and-repairer. It would also be necessary for him to understand blacksmithing, tailoring, bricklaying, surgery, medicine and carpet weaving. With these qualifications he would be useful and busy at all seasons of the year. He must have a good, sound constitution, and great patience and power of endurance, and if he should be a vegetarian all the better, as most of his pay would be in vegetables."
It takes little imagination to realize that a shoemaker was indeed a person needed in most settlements. Clothing could be made at home, but shoes were another matter. The list of additional skills desired from the new recruit might seem ludicrous, but it is apparent that these were precisely just the skills that could be put to good use in a place far from cities . . . jacks-of-all-trades were more common then than now.
The village blacksmith-dentist was Lamoni Tolman. James Yancey remembered how one of his front teeth was broken in a fall. His father sent him to Uncle Lamoni to have the tooth pulled. Lamoni, mowing hay at the time, examined the tooth and sent James to the house for the forceps. Then he had James sit up on the mower seat, and "out came the tooth regardless of the pain."
"How I remember Hatch Idaho"
Written for the Jubilee of Hatch Ward by Christine H. Hatch in 1948
Very vivid in the minds of the oldsters are the foot trails from one house to the other as every one was forced to walk to visit his neighbor. These trails were bare and hard, sometimes in the grain, in the meadow or the willows, but packed so well, they could be followed by moonlight. These settlers were so closely associated they could determine who had good springs. William T. Higginson established his home near one and we all remember obtaining a bountiful supply of watercress each spring...
Not one of the first settlers used tobacco or liquor, and profanity was never, never heard. People could go to other communities and see drinking and smoking, but to these refined people it was not to be tolerated. At one time a government man came on business. He tried to borrow a match for a smoke but not one match could be found among the men in the group. If anyone got out of the line, such as a sleeve above the elbow or short skirt above the ankle, Grandpa Higginson would tap his cane and repeat; “Babylon, Babylon”. Perhaps this training influenced Uncle Bob when he scraped all the skin from his fingers to merely say, “Ouch Old Pole”.
Indians! You can’t imagine how many we saw traveling through or coming for rock chucks and squirrels. Seems like Billy Y’s girls spent half their time under the bed hiding from Indians, and no one ever got hurt.
Not one of the first settlers used tobacco or liquor, and profanity was never, never heard. People could go to other communities and see drinking and smoking, but to these refined people it was not to be tolerated. At one time a government man came on business. He tried to borrow a match for a smoke but not one match could be found among the men in the group. If anyone got out of the line, such as a sleeve above the elbow or short skirt above the ankle, Grandpa Higginson would tap his cane and repeat; “Babylon, Babylon”. Perhaps this training influenced Uncle Bob when he scraped all the skin from his fingers to merely say, “Ouch Old Pole”.
Indians! You can’t imagine how many we saw traveling through or coming for rock chucks and squirrels. Seems like Billy Y’s girls spent half their time under the bed hiding from Indians, and no one ever got hurt.